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LOBBYIST LEADER COUNTS OBAMA'S, PUBLIC'S PERCEPTION AMONG TOP INDUSTRY CHALLENGES: Outgoing American League of Lobbyists President Howard Marlowe today singled out President Barack Obama and former super lobbyist Jack Abramoff as launching “unprecedented assaults on our profession” that must be met with stiff and vocal industry opposition. “The storm is not going to pass,” Marlowe told league members at the group’s annual meeting in D.C., saying Obama would continue criticizing registered lobbyists and attempting to limit their access to the executive branch.

Marlowe also looked inward, calling on lobbyists to continue working with Congress to fashion campaign finance reforms that would lessen lobbyists’ fundraising burdens, warning that “contributions that come out of our pockets” are viewed by the public as “quid pro quo or play-to-play — they blame us more than they blame our employers or our clients.”

Not everyone present had high hopes for change: “Your life is probably going to get worse,” Meredith McGehee, a lobbyist and policy director for the Campaign Legal Center, warned league members, arguing that super PACs and politically active nonprofit groups will increasingly ask lobbyists for political contributions. “They’re going to look to the lobbying community particularly to be a protection … it’s going to be a new and very difficult situation for many in Washington.”

Marlowe also cited a “glaring deficiency” in federal lobbying law that allows “several thousand” political influencers to operate in D.C. without feeling compelled to register as lobbyists — another point he called on Congress to address.

NEW LEADERS: The organization voted Monte Ward of Advanced Capitol Consulting its president for a one-year term. James Hickey of Day & Zimmermann becomes first vice president and Paul Kelly of The Federal Group becomes second vice president.

Ward vowed to make “ethical conduct and transparency” central to the league’s work. He also promised to work toward expanding the league’s membership — the majority of registered federal lobbyists are not members of the league.

PI SCOOPLET ...AIRLINES GROUP BULKS UP COMMUNICATIONS STAFF: A4A is bringing on a trio of communicators, including Vaughn Jennings as managing director for government and regulatory communications. Jennings comes on board after serving as press secretary, new media director and legislative assistant for Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla). Christian Lee and Tressa Mattingly are also joining the trade group as social media managers. The pair will co-manage the effort to increase the visilbity and influence of the airline industry. Lee served as director of new media for Judicial Watch and Meg Whitman's gubernatorial campaign, and Mattingly comes to A4A from MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, where she was a senior communications specialist.

PRO-ROMNEY SUPER PAC CO-FOUNDER DETAILS PLAN FOR NEW IMMIGRATION REFORM GROUP: CharlieSpies, who helped launch pro-Mitt Romney super PAC Restore Our Future and served as Romney’s 2008 campaign general counsel, tells PI that Republicans for Immigration Reform — a newly filed super PAC for which he’s serving as treasurer — has big plans for the next couple of years.

“It is a super PAC that will support pro-comprehensive immigration reform Republicans, including in primary elections when they are attacked for supporting comprehensive immigration reform,” Spies wrote in an email to PI, noting that the group, which formally filed federal organizational documents last week, hasn’t yet established firm fundraising goals.

Former Bush administration Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez is leading the group “and it is still in the formation stage,” Spies said. “The group will provide support to Republican leaders — like Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Speaker [John] Boehner — who work for a comprehensive solution that can put Republicans back on offense with the immigration issue.”

ERVIN HILL TO CELEBRATE 25 YEARS: Ervin I Hill Strategy is celebrating 25 years of business tonight at Bullfeathers on Capitol Hill starting at 6 p.m.

The firm was started in 1987 by Jim Ervin as Ervin Technical Associates. Clients include: General Dynamics, Era Helicopters and AgustaWestland North America, among others. The firm was rebranded in 2012 and has also added several senior-level hires, including Dan Hill,Barclay Resler, Rhett Dawson and Tom Diemer.

“We are really celebrating Jim Ervin’s success tonight and the success of the firm for over a quarter century. … In D.C., people come and go, parties rise and fall, but it’s really impressive to have built a business that has remained successful over such a long period of time, and it is truly a testament to Jim’s credibility and relationships," Hill said.

NEW LEADERSHIP PAC FOR HEITKAMP: Senator-elect Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) isn’t waiting until she takes her seat on Capitol Hill in January to form a leadership PAC, through which she may raise and spend money separate from her campaign account for purposes such as touting political ideology and making donations to partisan brethren. Heitkamp is calling her leadership PAC the Dakota Prairie PAC, and Tom Dickson will serve as treasurer. Once used primarily by veteran members of Congress, leadership PACs are now commonly used by freshman members and even members-elect.

A good Tuesday to you, PI faithful, as we come to you live from the Capitol Hilton in downtown D.C., where the American League of Lobbyists’ annual meeting is in full swing. More than 100 people are attending the event, which has already featured presentations from a variety of prominent people important to the influence industry, including Keith Morgan, the assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia who in part oversees potential Lobbying Disclosure Act violations; John Sassaman, chief counsel and staff director of the Senate Ethics Committee; Barbara Fredericks, assistant general counsel for the Commerce Department and Kate Keane, counsel in Perkins Coie’s political law group.

Thanks for reading, and now, back to the day’s top influence industry news …

BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE HIRES NEW VP: Capitol Hill veteran Don Green will serve as vice president for the Business Roundtable, managing the activities of the Corporate Governance Committee. Green will work on the group’s corporate governance legislative and regulatory priorities, which include financial regulation, reform of the U.S. housing finance system and policies relating to corporate boards and shareholder oversight.

SHULER MAKES K STREET JUMP TO DUKE: North Carolina Democrat Heath Shuler is the first retiring House lawmaker since the election to announce his post-public service plans. Shuler will join Duke Energy as senior vice president of federal affairs after serving the remainder of his term in Congress.

Duke spent $4.9 million on lobbying during the first nine months of the year. It has the Accord Group, Podesta Group, McGuireWoods Consulting, LTD Group, Lawler Strategies, Bracewell & Giuliani, Daryl Owen Associates, BG4, Alpine Group and Alliance One on retainer.

BROWNSTEIN HYATT FARBER SCHRECK SIGNS FOUR CLIENTS:Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck has signed four new clients — Arianespace Inc., National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, Real Estate Roundtable and T-Mobile. The firm has not previously lobbied on behalf of any of the four clients, according to federal lobbying disclosures.

Capitol Hill Consulting Group and Reed Smith are among the firms that have previously lobbied on behalf of Arianespace Inc. Arnold & Porter, Bockorny Group Inc., Capitol Counsel, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Ernst & Young, Heather Podesta + Partners and Venable have lobbied on behalf of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts this year. Bockorny Group Inc., Capitol Counsel and Venable also lobbied on behalf of Real Estate Roundtable this year, and JM Burkman Associates has previously lobbied on behalf of T-Mobile.

SINGER-SONGWRITER DIOGUARDI TO LOBBY: Former American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi is headed to Capitol Hill on Wednesday at 10 a.m. to perform "Sober" as part of a push by the National Music Publishers Association against Pandora's efforts that the association argues would reduce royalty rates. Desmond Child, Linda Perry, BC Jean and Lee Miller will also perform. Pandora is slated to testify Wednesday at a hearing on the Internet Radio Fairness Act, which would require Internet radio services to adhere to the same royalty-setting standard as satellite and cable radio stations.

POLL FINDS SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC FINANCING TO REDUCE NATIONAL DEBT:A new poll conducted byProgressive Change Campaign Committee found that 49 percent of the registered voters surveyed in New Hampshire support public financing of congressional elections as a way to reduce national debt while 34 percent oppose it. Adam Green, co-founder of the group, said in a statement: “Voters increasingly know that there's a direct correlation between our broken campaign finance system and the billions of dollars in corporate welfare that go to big campaign donors like military contractors, Big Oil and Wall Street.”

FIX THE DEBT ADDS PROMINENT COMMITTEE: The Committee for Economic Development is out today with news it is joining the Fix the Debt campaign. The non-partisan group says it decided to partner with Fix the Debt "in an effort to fortify the business community's call on President and Congress to reach a deal to address the U.S. 'fiscal cliff' before 2013."

COMMON CAUSE TAPS NEW BOARD MEMBER: Common Cause, a leading player in the campaign finance reform movement, has named public relations executive Dan Conley to its national governing board. Conley is the co-founder of Chicago-based Beacon Communications.

MEET THE UN-SUPER PACS: Think super PACs are all super-fundraisers? Think again: More than 60 percent have never raised a dime, and just a tiny fraction — about one in 20 — have raised into or beyond seven figures. So what’s the deal with gaggle of un-super PACs floating around? Dave has the details: http://politi.co/TqYi8K

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CORRECTION: A previous version of POLITICO Influence misspelled the name of Christian Lee.